Local News

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan was beside himself Tuesday after learning his name was dropped during testimony about an undercover cocaine investigation in the case of a former Santa Fe police detective.

Jimmy Vigil testified that he was contacted by the FBI to work undercover on an investigation that may have involved Lujan and the Santa Fe city manager, Albuquerque television station KOB-TV reported.

Vigil was fired after he was arrested on suspicion of driving drunk. The alleged FBI operation was set to begin just before the arrest.

The county council is scheduled to hear several briefings, including a staff
update on negotiations between Los Alamos County, the North American
Development Group (NADG) and Smith¹s/Kroger for the Trinity Site
Revitalization Project.
During a phone interview, Acting County Administrator Randy Autio said,
³Generally, progress continues to be made to get leases finalized. It is not
as quick as we¹d like it, but when you¹re dealing with two national
corporations in a time that¹s very risky they¹re going to make sure they¹re
comfortable with it.² Autio stressed that both parties were still committed
to the original scope of the project.

During the Annual County Employee Fund picnic, Council Chair Sharon Stover, right, and Vice Chair Ron Selvage (background) surprised Acting County Administrator Randy Autio, left, and Utilities’ Manager John Arrowsmith with special plaques from the council, thanking all county and Dept. of Public Utilities employees for their efforts to protect Los Alamos and LANL during the Las Conchas Fire. Councilors Fran Berting and Geoff Rodgers were also on hand during the impromptu recognition ceremony to applaud the employees for their hard work and dedication during the fire. Several hundred employees and their families attended the annual picnic held at Urban Park, Saturday afternoon.

DENVER — The strongest earthquake to strike Colorado in almost 40 years shook awake hundreds of people, toppled groceries off shelves and caused minor damage to homes in the southern part of the state and in northern New Mexico. No injuries were reported as aftershocks continued Tuesday.
“Here we go again, there’s another one starting. We got to get out of here,” said Garry Ringo, owner of Ringo’s Super Trading Post in the small town of Segundo, Colo., as bottles on shelves rattled in the background during an interview with The Associated Press.
Ringo estimated he lost thousands of dollars’ worth of liquor and soda.

The Los Alamos County Council, Los Alamos National Laboratory and NNSA will hold a special community event at Ashley Pond in Los Alamos Thursday afternoon to say “thank you” to all who helped during the June and July Las Conchas Fire.
The ceremony begins at 4:30 p.m. Los Alamos Fire Chief Doug Tucker, Police Chief Wayne Torpy and Type 1 Team Commander Corbin Newsome will be honored with special plaques during the program.
Live music will begin at 4 p.m. and information booths about fire recovery activities and post fire and flood updates from Bandelier and the Valles Caldera will be set up at the park, along with a fire photo poster display hosted by LANL and the county in the lobby of the nearby Justice Center.

Heavy rains Sunday afternoon triggered a flash flood in Santa Clara Canyon, endangering Governor Walter Dasheno and six others. A Black Hawk helicopter rescued four of those trapped by the flood and all were able to reach safety.
The National Weather Service estimated that from 1.7 up to 3 inches of rain fell on the Santa Clara Canyon watershed. The heavy rains impacted areas damaged by the Las Conchas fire, sending a cascade of water down the canyon.
Public information officer Joe Baca said that Dasheno and six flood mitigation workers were in the canyon assessing the situation when the flood hit.

This was the scene outside of Los Alamos National Laboratory employee Steve Yanicak’s property in El Rancho Sunday. Yanicak said he sustained no structural damage to his house but suffered some moderate erosional damage at the northern end of his property. I have never seen such a large amount of rainfall in such a short period of time ...and I’ve been living here since 1993. My neighbors that grew up in this area (most in their 60s) have never seen such a scary flood as we all witnessed on Sunday either,” Yanicak said in an email. Yanicak said it could have been a lot worse but he said he had taken precautions in the past 10 years to build and reinforce some erosional structures and walls at the edge of the arroyo.

Sunday’s pounding rainstorm washed out several areas throughout Los Alamos County. “We had flooding on West Jemez Road at Water Canyon with reports of four to six feet of water above the road,” said Los Alamos National Laboratory spokesman James Rickman.
Roadside guardrails washed out during the flooding, but the integrity of the road was not compromised, he said. The road was closed Monday while crews cleaned up the area.
Los Alamos Police Capt. Randy Foster reported that N.M. 4 was shut down at both ends Sunday due to rising rainwater and debris creating a hazard for motorists.

SENDAI, Japan (AP) — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday praised the resolve of the Japanese people in their efforts to recover from the tsunami and reaffirmed the two countries' alliance as vital for regional peace and prosperity.

In a speech at Sendai's airport, which American military personnel helped clear of debris after the tsunami, Biden spoke of the U.S. public's admiration of Japan after the March 11 disaster, which left about 20,000 people dead or missing and ravaged hundreds of miles (kilometers) of coastline.

"The disaster met its match in the legendary industriousness and relentless perseverance of the Japanese people," he said.